Pain
by crazytomboy78
Summary: Set after the episode 'Man and Iron Man'. AU, one-shot. Tony's dead, and nothing can change that. It's just too bad that he left darkness and despair in her world...rated T for character death.


**Hey guys! I got this really neat idea, but I think it's going to turn out angsty. It's AU, set after the episode Man and Iron Man. After this I promise I'll get working on Her Story :D**

_I'm so tired of being here  
Suppressed by all my childish fears  
And if you have to leave  
I wish that you would just leave  
'Cause your presence still lingers here  
And it won't leave me alone  
These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase  
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
All of me_

The girl sat over the boy's corpse, staring at it with a blank expression written deep inside her eyes. The person she'd looked forward to seeing each and every day, the person she cherished as a part of her life, the person she loved, is now gone. And there's nothing that can be done about it. My life is over, she thought. Ignoring the presence of the male beside her that was also mourning, Pepper dropped her fists to the floor and screamed,

"It's NOT FAIR!" Suddenly, startling the boy beside her with her outburst, she rose from the ground and dropped her head onto the keyboard for the large computer her crush had once used as a part of his daily routine, causing the screen to go berserk with error messages due to all the keys being pressed down simultaneously. The boy rose from his once live and well friend and walked over to her.

"Pepper," he choked, wiping away his tears, "I'm so sorry, I feel your pain," The boy tried to soothe his female friend.

"There's _no way _you feel the pain that's lingering inside of me," her voice quivered with her tears, "you lost your best friend, your brother. I lost the love of my life. NO ONE understands." The girl ignored the tears forming in her eyes and slithering down her cheeks. Her heart had shattered into a million pieces, irreplaceable and unfixable. The boy didn't say anything back. There was a deaf silence in the room as Pepper walked out. The boy sighed.

_**~Three weeks later…~**_

Pepper brushed the bottom of her black dress as she prepared to leave for the funeral. She crossed her arms and let her hands touch the bottom of her half-sleeves as her matching black purse dangled from her wrist. She felt cold inside, like her world was broken; which of course, it is now. I have nothing, she thought, just an empty shell in a black hole.

"Ready to go?" Asked Rhodey as he came in her front door. Pepper nodded and walked out the door with Rhodey's arm over her shoulder for comfort. Once they got to the funeral sight, Pepper saw the mirage of Tony's pictures next to a casket. Pepper covered her eyes from the terrible memory. It hurt her to just know that her love was inside of it. So many memories flooded her mind that she wanted to cry as she'd been doing all week. She shut her eyes tight as she remembered all the time they'd spent together, and all the thoughts she'd gathered that had led up to her realizing just how much she loved him. But now, he would never know.

_I used to be afraid of spiders, _Pepper thought, _but now this is all too real…_She watched as the casket was opened on one side and dropped her head in her cupped hands. She couldn't bear to look at the wooden box. Rhodey noticed this and patted her back. Pepper turned away from the casket as not to think about it, and then saw Obadiah Stane walk in. She felt anger build up inside her. She marched over to him.

"I suppose you're happy now, aren't you?" Pepper growled.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked, confused.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You're probably happy about this, because now you have that stupid company to yourself. Admit it, you rejoiced!" Pepper wanted to yell, but she held back to respect her environment.

"I don't believe you know what you're talking about. There's nothing happy about this occasion." Stane said all too seriously.

"YOU'RE RUTHLESS! You're just hiding your joy behind that stupid poker face. You'll never understand!" Pepper wanted to yell at him more, but Rhodey walked over and dragged her away, Pepper kicking and flailing her arms wildly in rejection. Rhodey let her go in the hallway.

"Pepper, what was that all about?" Rhodey asked. Pepper was silent. Her anger was filled with depression once more.

"I-I don't know. I just got so angry, I don't know what overcame me. I'm sorry…" she said quietly. Rhodey pulled her into a warming hug, noticing the tears that started to flow down her cheeks.

"Shhhh," he silenced her, "it's okay, Pepper, it's not your fault." He comforted. She cried harder into his shoulder.

"But I loved him so much!" Pepper cried.

"Shh. I know, you did." Rhodey said quietly and calmly. Pepper sobbed more.

_You used to captivate me  
by your resonating light  
now I'm bound by the life you left behind  
your face it haunts_

_My once pleasant dreams  
Your voice it chased away  
All the sanity in me  
These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase  
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
But though you're still with me  
I've been alone all along_

"I can't keep living this life. It's too painful." She complained to her friend.

"Pepper, what are you saying?" the boy asked.

"I'm saying I need to get away from here. It's been five years since Tony died and I still feel the pain inside. I need to get away from here, I need some time to clear my head." The redhead explained to her dark-skinned friend.

"Like a vacation?" the boy asked.

"Yes, smarty, a vacation." The girl teased.

"Shutup."

"Maybe I'll go to the Grand Canyon,"

"That would be a good way to clear your head,"

"Or I could go to California and see Los Angeles and stuff."

"That sounds fun."

"Or a road trip! Just me and the country. That sounds good."

"Whatever you need to do."

~…~

Pepper grabbed her keys as she ran out the door and into her RV with the last of her luggage. She'd settled two weeks off from work, thanks to her boss being completely understanding. She checked the RV for the correct amount of money, partially thanks to a donation from her father. She checked to make sure the correct amount of clothing was packed, and made sure she had all the supplies she needed to make the trip successful.

"Well, good luck, Pepper." A male's voice popped in from behind her. She jumped a little then turned to see her visitor.

"Jeez, Rhodey, you scared me!" She smiled.

"Oops." He said sarcastically.

"Well, good luck again." He said.

"Thanks!" Pepper climbed out of the RV.

"I'd love to stay a little longer, but Cassie has a game today and I was just headed over to watch it." Rhodey explained.

"Neat. Good luck to her!" Pepper said, her tone filled with excitement.

"See you in two weeks." Suddenly, Pepper hugged him.

"Thanks for having my back all these years, Rhodey." She said solemnly.

"Pepper, you're our friend. We're always going to have your back."

"We?" Pepper asked, confused. Rhodey pointed into the sky.

~…~

As Pepper cruised down the Kentucky highway, she felt her eyes growing weaker as she yawned. She quickly found a parking lot a few minutes down the road and parked the RV for the night. It was a hotel parking lot, and she had a spot in a far corner of the lot. She scanned her thoughts. Tony came up several times; no matter how hard she tried to keep him out, he just kept reentering. She felt tears stream down her cheeks and dropped her head in her arms to weep.

**Enddd~ So that was angsty, wasn't it? Not so much the end, but the last paragraph was a bit more depressing. It was a random thought. But the story turned out great! Anyways, review!**


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